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ADHD in the News - May 26, 2011

A weekly news digest** from the National Resource Center on ADHD: A Program of CHADD

Adult ADHD: 15 signs you may have it (Huffington Post, May 26, 2011)

"About 4 percent of adults have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and many others have never been diagnosed. (About half of kids with ADHD still have it in adulthood.) A diagnosis can be important. Adults with ADHD tend to have lower incomes as well as higher rates of accidents, unplanned pregnancies and substance abuse than those without it, says Martin W. Wetzel, M.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, in Omaha. Here are 15 signs of adult ADHD..." Full Story

Edge Foundation Announces Unique Scholarship for Students With ADHD Offered in Partnership With Shire (Sacramento Bee, May 25, 2011)

"Students with ADHD struggle with the difficult transition from high school to higher education. Studies indicate that between 50 to 95 percent(1) of college students with ADHD drop out. Edge is pleased to partner with Shire to offer a unique new scholarship program aimed at these students. Twenty-five graduating high school seniors who will start a higher education program in fall 2011 will receive a $2,000 scholarship and a full year of ADHD coaching services provided by the Edge Foundation. The deadline to apply is July 7, 2011. Scholarships will be awarded on August 9, 2011..." Full Story

"Extended-release methylphenidate (ER-MPH) appears to elicit a dose-dependent improvement in hyperactivity symptoms in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), new research suggests. Presented here at the International Meeting for Autism Research 10th Anniversary Meeting by investigators at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, the randomized, controlled, crossover study showed ER-MPH in these children was associated with significant improvement in ADHD symptoms, particularly in the realms of hyperactivity and impulsivity, with no increase in irritability or decline in social function..." Full Story

"Virtual reality training may help improve complex social attention in school-aged children with higher-functioning autism (HFA), suggests new research presented here at the American Psychiatric Association (APA) 2011 Annual Meeting..." Full Story

Developmental Disabilities on the Rise in U.S. (WebMD, May 24, 2011)

"Autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnoses are on the rise in the U.S., with one in six children now having these or other developmental disabilities, according to new figures from the CDC. Nearly 10 million U.S. children had developmental disabilities in 2008 -- a 17% increase in just over a decade, says epidemiologist Sheree Boule, PhD, of the CDC's National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities..." Full Story

CDC: Autism, ADHD Rates on the Rise (Health.com, May 23, 2011)

"This upward trend has been driven largely by surges in the number of children diagnosed with autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), although the prevalence of stuttering and learning disabilities has also increased. The study, which appears in the June issue of the journal Pediatrics, is the first time nationally representative data on developmental disabilities has been collected since 1988, says Sheree Boulet, DrPH, one of the study's authors and an epidemiologist at the CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities..." Full Story

"HONOLULU -- Most patients who abuse stimulant medications are obtaining them from family and friends, researchers said here. About 80% of survey respondents said they obtained amphetamines, and other stimulants, from people they knew well. Less people reported getting the drugs from a dealer, over the Internet, or by stealing them, reported Theresa Cassidy, MPH, of Inflexxion research in Newton, Mass., and colleagues at a poster session at the American Psychiatric Association meeting..." Full Story

Studies Home In on 'Quieter' ADD Students (Education Week, May 20, 2011)

"Evolving research on attention deficit disorders is going beyond the typical hyperactive, disruptive child to find ways to better identify the quietly drifting student, as new screening tools and cognitive therapies seek to help both types of students..." Full Story

"What is going on? Are our kids rapidly getting much sicker? Or are we getting better at identifying ADD? Or is the diagnosis being spread around too loosely? Or is it some combination of all of the above and perhaps some other factors as well? This mystery cries out for solution, but yields no easy answers. I can think of at least 12 different, probably interacting factors that may have contributed (in greater or lesser degrees) to the huge jump in ADD rates..." Full Story

ADHD and Depression: Common Bedfellows (PsychCentral, May 19, 2011)

"Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depression commonly occur together. According to Ari Tuckman, PsyD, a clinical psychologist who specializes in ADHD and wrote the book More Attention, Less Deficit: Successful Strategies for Adults with ADHD: "ADHD makes people's lives harder, so it makes sense that they have more to be depressed about. This is especially true because ADHD difficulties usually persist -- it's not like going through a bad break-up where things get better with time."...Below, Tuckman talks about both disorders, which is treated first and what readers can do..." Full Story